We're dating again!

Yes, girls, you heard me right. If you are trying to calculate and do the math, its true. It has been four months since we have been on a date without our little person. This last weekend my sister and my mother offered to watch the little man while we had a little afternoon rendezvous (This pic was taken before we left him).

We ate some yummy lunch without bouncing a newborn and then went shopping without pushing a stroller. The best part was that when we were through, we realized that we had not talked about "work" and had held hands the whole three hours. I can't wait 'til we do it again!

Since we weren't with our little guy, we couldn't resist buying something for him. We had a gift card to Pottery Barn Kids and we purchased this....


Let me tell you, wall decor for boys is not easy to find. We snatched this one right up!

How Beautiful...

I want to introduce you to Cindy. Almost 13 years ago, God used her to change the coarse of my entire life. There are countless times that I try to imagine what my life would be like without the my Heavenly Father. Together, Cindy and I, have had quite a wild ride with Jesus- from silly girls who rapped her house, to high school boyfriends, to college adventures, road trips, times I went to New Mexico rather than home, husbands, and now kids...

We met initially because we were both dancers and I was immediately drawn to her and knew there was something different about her. My freshman year of high school, I was enjoying the world and the likes of drinking and lots of boys. Cindy loved me, never judged me and was always there to listen whenever I needed. A couple of years went by that we were casual friends.
Then the summer before my junior year, she invited me to go to Young Life with her all summer. I always had a great time and it continually amazed me that these people could have so much fun without partying. I remember coming home many times that summer and telling my mom, "They have so much fun and they don't even drink!"

I had always "believed" in God, but had never truly given my life completely to Him. Right as the school year began, invited me to attend the first Wednesday night Bible study they had. It was that night in the living room that I knew that Jesus was the only way and I decided to give Him control of my life and follow Him. Cindy and I were connected at the hip from then on. I am so honored the Lord has blessed me with her friendship all of these years.

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." Romans 10:15
Cindy, thank you for being genuine and choosing the road less traveled. Thank you for seeing what God did and believing Him even when it couldn't be seen. I'm excited for all that God still has in store...


Yes, I asked her to take a picture of her feet and send them to me! She is such a great friend that she agreed without knowing what it was for. In her email she wrote, "As weird as this is, here you go:)" (This is what my child is subjected to every day! Please pray for the sweet thing)

On Monday, the mister and I met up with Cindy and her sweet daughter, Claire. Claire was so good with Isaac and such a "little mommy." She is expecting baby #2 this August, and I know Claire will be such a great helper! The picture below totally cracks me up.

(p.s. if you're wondering where Cindy's blog is, that is a great question!?! I have tried to coherse her to start blogging but have yet to succeed. So Cindy, hear our plea!)

Snash

Joe is pretty particular when it comes to baby clothes. He has instructed Isaac that if I put him in anything that is less than manly then he is to beep at me (like a radar gun) :)

So Monday morning Isaac and I were getting ready for our day trip to The Woodlands and I was getting him dressed. I picked out this cute little striped onesie that he hadn't worn yet. I walked into our bedroom to talk to Joe before we left. Joe took one look at the little mister and said, "Did you not beep loud enough for your mom to hear you?" I wondered what is wrong with this outfit!??! He goes on to explain that if the snaps swoop to the side it looks like a sash. That, in short, it is not manly. We have now coined these little ensembles as the "snash"- the snaps form a sash called "the snash." Needless to say, we changed outfits but not before I snapped a little shot of this jazzy ensemble.

Cheers!

We had such a good day that I can't go to sleep. This is nothing that a little blogging can't fix...I hope.

It all started with a little french toast in bed. You know the day has started off right when you have a little of that deliciousness. Then we headed off to try another church and we think we may have found our new "home away from our Gateway church home." Its called Living Hope. The worship was awesome and very refreshing! The Word was good. There were also lots of young families there and other people who still didn't put their 3, 4 or 10 month old babies in the nursery- which was a relief! (I just don't know when I'm going to be able to do it!)

Then we headed to Pei Wei for a little lunch treat. Always delicious except for I think it gave me a little food poisoning. The 30 minute drive home included a lot of praying and Joe eventually pulled over (I'll spare you the gory details!).

Next, little man took a nap + mom takes a nap... always = a good thing.

After that the hubs and I watched this fascinating documentary on Africa. Truly riveting. Wish you were there.

Then we started this new Bible Study by Jack Hayford and that is always quality marriage time!

Next, we have been put on Mission Impossible 3: Catching My Aunt and Uncle's cat that has declared itself one of the barn cats. Hilarious I tell you. These are the times I wish I had three arms so I could hold Issac and video tape Joe's witty brillance.

Oh, this is exciting mom moment for me- little man only took 3 naps. For those of you who are wondering why that would be a good thing... Well, That means he went to bed earlier which lead to a lot of mature activities by the parentals: wet willies, "credit cards", and wrestling on the bed.

So cheers to a great Sunday!

Warning: I am going to leave you with PG pictures from the day. Its too cute to resist posting.

VBS Ranch Style

Since I didn't grow up going to VBS, I thought we should start Isaac early. So today, I solicited Hailey, one of the ranch workers' granddaughter, to come VBS with us! She is 6 weeks old and sister has some SERIOUS hair, as you will see. We had a grand ol' time singing the three classic Jesus kid songs that I know. I need to learn some other ones, can anyone reccomend a good cd? Then I got to tell them both all about Jesus and how much he loves them. We also had playtime, which when you're only a few months old that includes a lot of staring...


Here is Hailey and her hair. I would like to find out what hair products she is using because they work!
How it all began...

Isaac is so excited he has a friend his size :)
"Look Hailey what I can do"
He really has been working for a couple of weeks to be able to grab both of them at the same time. He worked out the kinks in this little trick this week.
He seriously does this with his hands all the time. Joe and I call it his 'discernment mode.'

R.I.P.

Well, we've had two deaths here at the ranch. They went a little something like this...



My sister decided to come join the party at Southfork and brought my nephew, James. We were trying to show off how "country" two city girls are and ride some horses. We got some boots out of the garage (which Joe had to empty them of spiders :) Then, we went to the arena to show off our first rate skills. I, being the stupid...i mean, daring one decided to hop on "Rocky" first. I put my left foot in the saddle and then swung my right leg over the horse. About that moment I heard RIIPPP!!! exposing the family heirloom to my sister's great amusement. So I had to give my Abercrombie jeans a proper burial since they had been in the family since 1999. Thank you for serving me well all those faithful college years.



Next, I was putting the little man down for a nap when I heard a lot of noise from the kitchen. I thought to myself, "Self, why would Joe be cooking when he just had breakfast not too long ago and its only 11 a.m." Hmm. Worth checking out. As I rounded the corner I found my knight in shining armor in kacki shorts, his boots (to protect his feet of course), and the fire place tools standing guard over our home. There was an intruder! The snake had hidden behind a piece of furniture in the formal dining room. I love my man, but snakes he does not do. So we call one of the head foreman at the ranch and tell him of our predicament. Within minutes, we have three Latino snake killing specialists at our door. That varmint was apprehended and decapitated in no time. I hope that copperhead burns in the fires of Sheol!

Why can't we play?

Usher

The most joyous part of being out here at Southfork has been what God is doing in my family. We have gotten to see, spend more time with them, and talk to them more often. This week is no exception. My stepbrother came to stay with us on Monday. He has had a very difficult life (that grossly understates his upbringing). My dad and step mom felt that they were to adopt Brendon about three years ago. When you are working with CPS, the adoption process is very slow, arduous, and tiresome. After more than two years of home visits, interviews, counseling sessions, and court appearances it became official. God has really been doing a work in his heart lately, but please pray for him while he is here. He has been working out here- helping the guys feed the horses, sweeping the barns, washing the ranch trucks, working in the yard, etc. Joe sent my Dad and Daina a picture of him on the horse which my dad responds... "Work the thug out of him." We're not trying to work it out, but rather love it out :) Please pray for his sweet soul.

p.s. Does he not look like "Usher" or what? He can dance like him too.

White Chocolate

Well, my stepsister graduated this last weekend. She was off doing graduation festivities, so I only got to see her as she walked across the stage. To the left, is my step mom, Daina. Isaac's name for her is "G- mama." Now that's good and that is compliments of Arnita Taylor. She is the only one cool enough to help name Daina. I will blog more another time about how wonderful Daina is, but for now we can all admire her beauty. How I managed to not get any of her family, I do not know. They were such a riot. They lovingly named Isaac, "white chocolate" and he loved being passed around.

Below are pictures of the lunch beforehand. Then, we headed to the graduation. You know how long these things go, so it was inevitable that he was going to be fed at graduation. Since we were driving to Austin, I didn't pack any milk in the cooler to feed the little man a bottle. So mid-graduation, we head to the bathroom for a little feeding time. My planning skills got even worse, when the dress that I purchased for the occasion was the kind that you pull over your head- no zippers, no buttons...no easy access. So little man and I trotted off to the bathroom so I could pull my dress over my head to feed him :) We put those little toilet protectors down and I was going to sit there. The toilet is the automatically flushing kind, so every minute the toilet would flush, scare Isaac, and he would pop off the nozzle. It was a hilarious skit that lead to me standing and nursing!

Isaac got to meet his sassy Aunt Stephanie for the first time!

My "little" brother who is 6 ft. 7 in. :)

Little mister is looking more like my dad every day.

My Aunt Kim and Uncle Bob- I love them and they are such a blessing to our family!

My Child of Promise

To you, my child of promise, my worshipping warrior, and the joy of my heart:

Tonight as I laid in bed, the Lord gave me a vision of you as a young man. You are tall and striking. You eyes will make your wife's heart melt like wax and your smile will make her heart flutter. What is most striking though is your caring spirit. You look at people and see them for who they are; you care deeply and from the heart. You have the gift of discernment and use it to minister to people where they need it most. A smile comes easily to your face and even as I type this, I can hear you giggle in your sleep in the other room. Your joy is a tree of life to those around you and those close to you eat of its rich fruit. I don't know all that God has for you, little one, but I see just a glimpse of who you will become-a mighty man of character for His glory. I am humbled that God has entrusted me to be your mama. What a fun journey we have ahead...

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly and to love kindness and mercy and to humble yourself and walk humby with your God?" Micah 6:8

I love you through and through, always and forever, no matter what.

Fashion Alert

I wanted you to be the first to get the heads up that Isaac is bringing "the rat tail" back in style. This was a very cool 'hair do' circa 1990, but the little man is bringing it back full force in 2008.